Recording medium for storing defect management information of recording real time data, defect managing method therefor, and real time data recording method

ABSTRACT

A recording medium for storing defect management information to record real time data, a defect managing method therefor, and a method of recording real time data. The recording medium stores information representing use or non-use of linear replacement defect management in which a defective area on the recording medium is replaced with the spare area, in order to record real time data. While maintaining compatibility between the defect managing method and a defect managing method based on a current DVD-RAM standard, i.e., while allowing a report of the fact that there are blocks which have not been linearly replaced, linear replacement is not performed when real time data is recorded. Thus, real time data can be recorded and reproduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/107,395 filed Mar. 28, 2002, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,232,which is a Divisional Application of Application No. 09/294,344 filedApr. 20, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,480,446. This application also claimsthe benefit of Korean Application Nos. 98-14059, filed Apr. 20, 1998;98-23913, filed Jun. 24, 1998; 98-29733, filed Jul. 23, 1998; 98-34880,filed Aug. 27, 1998; and 98-35847, filed Sep. 1, 1998, in the KoreanPatent Office, the disclosures of which were filed in application Ser.No. 09/294,344 and incorporated herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of managing a disk and itsdefects, and more particularly, to a recording medium for storing defectmanagement information with respect to whether linear replacement isused, a method of effectively managing defects to record and/orreproduce video and/or audio data from a digital versatile disc randomaccess memory (DVD-RAM) in real time, and a method of recording data inreal time using defect management information.

2. Description of the Related Art

Real time recording or reproduction means that a given amount of data isnecessarily recorded or reproduced within a given time since inputinformation is lost if it is not processed at the moment data is input,and since a phenomenon such as a pause of an image or temporaryinterruption of music occurs with reproduction of data as abnormalinformation if data is not recorded or reproduced at a predeterminedspeed. The above-described problems are caused since the input ofinformation cannot be temporally controlled by a recording andreproducing apparatus.

In the DVD-RAM standard version 1.0, a method of managing defectsgenerated on a disk has been disclosed to increase the reliability ofdata recorded on the disk. Slipping replacement and linear replacementare included as the disclosed defect management methods: the firstmethod processes defects detected in an initializing process; and thesecond method replaces an error correction code (ECC) block unit(16-sector unit) including a sector having a defect generated during useof the disc with a defect-free ECC block in a spare area.

The slipping replacement is used to minimize a reduction in therecording or reproduction speed due to defects, in which a logicalsector number to be provided to a defective sector is provided to asector next to the defective sector detected during a certificationprocess for investigating defects of a disc when the disc isinitialized, that is, data is recorded or reproduced by slipping asector on which a defect is generated during recording or reproduction.Here, a real physical sector number is pushed back by the sector numberdesignated by slipping the defective sector. Such a left-behindphenomenon is solved by using as many sectors as there are defects in aspare area located at the end portion of a corresponding user data area.

However, the slipping replacement cannot be used for a defect generatedwhile a disc is used. When a defective portion is disregarded andskipped, discontinuity is generated on logical sector numbering, whichmeans that the slipping replacement violates file system rules. Thus,the linear replacement is used when a defect is generated during use ofthe disc, which means the replacement of an ECC block including adefective sector with an ECC block existing in a spare area.

When the linear replacement is used, no vacuum exists in a logicalsector number, however, the position of a sector on a disc isdiscontinuous, and real data corresponding to a defective ECC blockexists in the spare area.

As described above, when real time recording, in which the time fortemporarily-input information cannot be arbitrarily delayed, such as,recording of broadcast information or a real image, is necessary,information is recorded in an area to be linearly-replaced by undergoinga process in which a pickup goes up to the spare area and searches foran area to be linearly replaced, and a process in which the pickup comesback. Hence, the recording speed is reduced, so that information inputin real time cannot be continuously recorded when the linear replacementis used.

It is prescribed that a DVD-RAM drive according to the DVD-RAM standardversion 1.0 processes all of this defect management to reduce the burdenof the host computer used in the drive. The host computer is designed totransmit a command ordered not to manage defects to the drive using acommand denoted in an interface standard. That is, if the host computerdetermines whether defect management will be performed, the defectmanagement itself is supposed to be performed by the drive.

Even when the host computer does not manage defects according to theneed of an application program, the DVD-RAM disc according to theDVD-RAM standard version 1.0 must necessarily manage defects recorded ina primary defect list (PDL) and a secondary defect list (SDL) accordingto a defect management rule if an area slippingly replaced or linearlyreplaced due to defect management performed by another drive exists.Here, it is prescribed that the position of a defective sector replacedaccording to slipping replacement should be recorded in the PDL, and theposition of a defective block replaced according to linear replacementshould be recorded in the SDL. That is, when data is recorded aftersetting the fact that a specific drive should not perform defectmanagement using the linear replacement, it cannot be ensured that otherdrives must also not perform the linear replacement on the same disc.

Therefore, when real time recording is performed by a current DVD-RAMdisc, it may be difficult because of an area to be used by the linearreplacement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention toprovide a recording medium for storing defect management informationassociated with whether linear replacement is used or not, to recordreal time data.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a recordingmedium for storing information for showing a plurality of differentdefect management modes according to the type of data to be recorded.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide arecording medium for allocating a spare area for only real timerecording whose space can be effectively utilized.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method ofmanaging a defect of a recording medium which can record real time dataand can have maximum compatibility with a general DVD-RAM disc.

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide amethod of recording real time data using the defect managementinformation associated with whether the linear replacement is used.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious fromthe description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Accordingly, to achieve the above and other objects of the presentinvention, there is provided a recording medium including a user dataarea, a spare area and a control information area, wherein the controlinformation area stores information representing use or non-use oflinear replacement defect management in which a defective area on therecording medium is replaced with the spare area.

To further achieve the above and other objects of the present invention,there is provided a recording medium for storing defect management modeinformation for showing a plurality of defect management modesrepresenting use or non-use of linear replacement according to the typeof data to be recorded.

To still further achieve the above and other objects of the presentinvention, there is provided a recording medium for storing informationrepresenting non-application of linear replacement to all data to berecorded in a user data area on the recording medium in a defectmanagement area, in which only a spare area for slipping replacement isallocated.

To still yet further achieve the above and other objects of the presentinvention, there is provided a defect managing method according to thepresent invention for a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatuscomprising the steps of: (a) recording information representing use ornon-use of linear replacement defect management with respect to theentire disc or a specific area of the disc; and (b) determining whethera defective area of the disc will be replaced by a block in a spare areaof the disc using linear replacement according to informationrepresenting use or non-use of the linear replacement defect management.

To still yet further achieve the above and other objects of the presentinvention, there is provided a method of recording real time data whilemanaging a defect on a disc using a disc recording and/or reproducingapparatus, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining whetherdefect management mode information representing whether defectmanagement based on linear replacement is to be used; (b) determiningwhether data to be recorded is real time data, when the defectmanagement mode information is information that the linear replacementis not to be used; (c) determining whether a linearly-replaced detectexists in an area to record data in, when the data to be recorded isreal time data; and (d) determining whether a new defect is detected inthe area to record data in, when no linearly-replaced defect exists inthe area to record data in, and recording the real time data in adesired area when the new defect is not detected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof withreference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a defect management method usingslipping replacement of a recording medium;

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a defect management method using linearreplacement of a recording medium;

FIG. 3 is a table of a defect definition structure (DDS);

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the structures of a disc certification flagand a group certification flag shown in FIG. 3, respectively;

FIG. 5 is a table of the contents of a secondary defect list (SDL);

FIG. 6 illustrates the structure of the spare area full flag shown inFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates the structure of the SDL entry shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate the structures of the disc certification flagand the group certification flag of the DDS for recording real time dataproposed by the present invention, respectively;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording data accordingto a defect management method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the structure of an improved SDL entryfor canceling linear replacement proposed by the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a DDS for storing information forindicating a plurality of different defect management modes proposed bythe present invention;

FIG. 12 is a table showing allocated spare areas for recording real timedata proposed by the present invention; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a DDS and the structure of a primary defect list(PDL) for storing defect management mode information proposed by thepresent invention for allocating spare areas for only real timerecording shown in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of a recording medium storing defect managementinformation for recording real time data, a defect managing method usingthe same, and a real time data recording method will now be describedwith reference to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals referto like elements throughout.

First, slipping replacement and linear replacement will be described indetail referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in order to help in the understandingof the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a defect management method using theslipping replacement. Physical addresses on a disc shown in FIG. 1 arerecorded as P1, P2, P3, . . . , Pn, and logical addresses L1, L2, L3 . .. must be provided to record real data in these physically-segmentedsectors. These logical addresses act as addresses allowing a real filesystem to search for its own data. However, the relationship between thephysical addresses and the logical addresses is made in a discinitialization process. If a defect is detected on the third physicalsector P3 as shown in FIG. 1, a logical address is not designated tothis defective sector, and a logical sector number L3 is designated tothe next physical sector P4. Then, the logical sectors are sequentiallypushed back by the number of defective sectors, and a spare area locatedat the end of a corresponding data group is used by the pushed portion.In this slipping replacement method, effective processing in sectorunits is possible by simply slipping a defective region, and a pickupdoes not need to move to a different place upon recording andreproduction by simply disregarding and skipping a defective portion.Thus, the defective region can be avoided while minimizing the delaytime. Here, the position of a defective sector replaced by the slippingreplacement is recorded in the PDL.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a defect management method using linearreplacement. In the linear replacement for processing defects generatedwhile a disc is used after being initialized, the defects are managed inan ECC block unit, i.e., in units of 16 sectors. In other words, when anerror is generated at a specific sector and a defect is thus detected,if the movement in units of at least 16 sectors is not made for errorcorrection, the error correction unit of each data previously recordedin a disc must be changed. Thus, processing in an ECC block unit must beperformed, and the slipping replacement method of slipping a defectivesector and designating a logical sector cannot be used since the logicaladdress of an area where data has already been recorded cannot bechanged. When a defect is generated in a logical block LB3 as shown inFIG. 2, the defective region is recorded in the SDL to be prevented frombeing used, and the defective portion is replaced with a usable blockexisting in a spare area. The replaced block (SBk in FIG. 2) in thespare area has the same logical block number (LB3) as the erroneousblock.

In a reproduction sequence, as shown in FIG. 2, reading is continuedjust before a defective block in an area 1, a replaced ECC blockexisting in the spare area is read by moving a pickup or the like to anarea 2, and data is continuously read from a block right next to thedefective block in an area 3. In order to process defects as describedabove, a pickup performs the process for searching for data and aprocess for returning to the block right next to the defective blockafter reading the replaced block. Thus, much time is required to read orwrite data, so that this defect management is not appropriate for realtime recording.

In the present invention, a disc (recording medium) includes a controlinformation area for storing general information (which includes adefect management area (DMA) for storing defect management information)and a user area for writing/rewriting user data. The user area includesa user data area and a spare area, and the control information areaincludes a lead-in area or a lead-out area. The DMA includes a discdefinition structure (DDS), a primary defect list (PDL) and a secondarydefect list (SDL).

FIG. 3 is a table of the disc definition structure (DDS) existing in thedefect management area (DMA) of a DVD-RAM, which is in the lead-in areaor the lead-out area of the control information area. In particular, abyte position (BP) 3, a disc certification flag, records the certifiedcontents of the entire disc, and BPs 16 through 39, group certificationflags, record the contents of certification of 24 data groups.

In addition, BPs 0 and 1 are DDS identifiers, and BPs 4 through 7 arethe values of counters for updating DDS/PDL representing the totalnumber of times in which a DDS/PDL block is updated and rewritten. Thatis, when initialization starts, the value of a counter is set to be “0”,and increases by one whenever the DDS/PDL is updated or rewritten. AllDDS/PDL and SDL blocks must have the same counter value after formattingis completed. BPs 8 and 9 denote the number of groups, and, for example,24 groups are recorded as “0018” (hexadecimal).

FIG. 4A illustrates the structure of the disc certification flag shownin FIG. 3. When a bit b7 among three bits b7, b6 and b5 representing anin-process state is “0b”, it indicates format completion, and when thebit b7 is “1b”, it indicates an under-formation state. When the bit b6is “0b”, it indicates the progress of formatting using fullcertification, and when the bit b6 is “1b”, it indicates the progress offormatting using partial certification. When the bit b5 is “0b”, itindicates the progress of formatting on the entire disc, and when thebit b5 is “1b”, it indicates the progress of formatting on only groups,and indicates that the group certification flag is effective. When a bitb1 representing user certification is “0b”, it indicates that a disc hasnever been certified by a user, and when the bit b1 is “1b”, itindicates that a disc has been certified one or more times by a user.When a bit b0 representing disc manufacturer certification is “0b”, itindicates that a disc has never been certified by a manufacturer, andwhen the bit 0 is “1b”, it indicates that the disc has been certifiedone or more times by the manufacturer. Other bits b4, b3, and b2 arereserved. However, “in-process” is set to be “1” by any certificationbefore formatting, (where the symbol “x” means a ‘don't care bit,’ i.e.,“1” or “0” and when formatting is completed, the “in-process” is resetto be “000”.

FIG. 4B illustrates the structure of each of the group certificationflags of the bit positions 16 through 39 shown in FIG. 3. When a bit b7among two bits b7 and b6 representing an in-process state is “0b”, itindicates format completion of a corresponding group, and when the bitb7 is “1b”, it indicates that the corresponding group is beingformatted. When the bit b6 is “0b”, it indicates that the group is beingformatted using full certification, and when the bit b6 is “1b”, itindicates that the group is being formatted using partial certification.When a bit b1 representing user certification is “0b”, it indicates thatthe group has never been certified by a user, and when the bit b1 is“1b”, it indicates that the group has been certified one or more timesby a user. Other bits b5, b4, b3, b2, and b0 are reserved.

FIG. 5 is a table showing the contents of a secondary defect list (SDL).BP is the position of a relative byte starting with 0. Relative bytepositions 0 and 1 are SDL identifiers, and relative byte positions 2 and3 are reserved. Relative byte positions 4 through 7 denote the totalnumber of updated SDL blocks, and the SDL updating counter valueincreases by one whenever the content of SDL is updated. Relative bytepositions 8 through 15 denote spare area full flags, and relative bytepositions 16 through 19 denote DDS/PDL updating counter values eachindicating the total number of times the DDS/PDL block is updated andrewritten. The counter value is set to be “0” when initializationstarts, and increases by 1 whenever the DDS/PLD is updated or rewritten.As mentioned above, all the DDS/PDL and SDL blocks must have the samecount value after formatting is finished. Relative byte positions 20 and21 are reserved, and relative byte positions 22 and 23 indicate thenumber of entries in the SDL. The remaining relative byte positionsindicate each SDL entry.

FIG. 6 illustrates the structure of the spare area full flag of therelative byte positions 8 through 15 shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, if abit representing a corresponding group is “1”, it indicates that nospare blocks are left in the corresponding group, and if the bit is “0”,it indicates that a spare block remains in the corresponding group.

FIG. 7 illustrates the structure of the SDL entry shown in FIG. 5. InFIG. 7, FRM (Forced Re-Assignment Marking) is a bit representing whethera defective block has been replaced. When the defective block has beenreplaced, FRM records a binary “0”, and when the deflective block hasnot been replaced or no spare areas exist, FRM records a binary “1”. TheSDL entry includes the sector number of the first sector of a defectiveblock, and the sector number of the first sector of a replacement block.Here, if the defective block has not been replaced, a hexadecimal“000000” is record in an area where the first sector number of thereplacement block is recorded.

Meanwhile, in real time recording, whether corresponding data can beprocessed within a given time becomes more important than some errors ofreal data. In particular, in the case of an image or the like, an erroris generated to part of a screen when a small error exists in the image.On the other hand, when input data cannot be processed in time,continuous data error is generated to make normal reproductionimpossible. Therefore, the processing of data in time is more important.

Thus, as for the real time recording, a method allowing for non-use ofthe linear replacement must be suggested. When the linear replacement isnot used, there must be a portion recording the fact that acorresponding disc is in use without using the linear replacement. Amethod of recording such a content will be described referring to FIGS.8A and 8B.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate the structures of the disc certification flagand the group certification flag of the DDS proposed by the presentinvention to record real time data, respectively. The structures of thedisc certification flag and the group certification flag of FIGS. 8A and8B are the same as those of FIGS. 4A and 4B except for a bit positionb2. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the entire corresponding disc isused without the linear replacement, the bit position b2 of the disccertification flag is set as “1”, and when the corresponding disc isused by the linear replacement as in the prior art, the bit position b2is set as “0”. In FIGS. 8A and 8B, information associated with use ornon-use of the linear replacement stored in the bit position b2 iscalled a disc defect management mode.

Also, when only specific groups are partially initialized to prevent thelinear replacement, as shown in FIG. 8B, the bit position b2 of thegroup certification flag for a corresponding group is set as “1” toindicate that linear replacement is not performed on a data region inthe corresponding group. In an embodiment of the present invention, thebit positions b2 of the disc certification flag and the groupcertification flag are used as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, but anotherreserved bit can be used. Here, each existing b2 region is reserved, andits value is recorded as “0”.

When the bit b2 for a disc defect management mode of the disccertification flag or group certification flag is set as “1” uponinitialization of a disc, the SDL records only the start sector addressof a block having a defect generated during use of the disc, records anFRM bit of the SDL entry as “1”, and the linear replacement is notperformed. A hexadecimal “000000” is recorded in an area for recordingthe first sector number of a replacement block of the SDL entry.

In this way, while compatibility between a defect managing method basedon a current DVD-RAM standard and a method of the present invention ismaintained, i.e., while a method capable of indicating the existence ofnon-linearly-replaced blocks as in an existing defect managing method issuggested, a method allowing a defective block not to be linearlyreplaced is also provided to thereby accomplish recording andreproduction of real time data.

A determination of whether a defective region will be replaced by ablock existing in a spare area using linear replacement is made byinformation associated with use or non-use of linear replacement defectmanagement recorded in a defect management region on the entire disc orin a specific area of the disc regardless of the type of data to berecorded in a corresponding area.

Also, a determination of whether a defective region will be replaced bya block existing in a spare area using the linear replacement is made byinformation associated with use or non-use of linear replacement defectmanagement recorded in a defect management region on the entire disc orin a specific area on the disc in the case of only data required to berecorded in real time.

A method of preventing linear replacement with respect to the entiredisc or specific groups of the disc was described on the basis of theabove-described embodiment. In another embodiment, when a disc defectmanagement mode is set as “1”, it can be used as information that thelinear replacement is not performed with respect to a block having adefect in an area of a disc for recording information requiring realtime recording and reproduction, but the linear replacement can beperformed with respect to an area of a disc not requiring real timerecording. In this case, when data not requiring real time recording hasalready been recorded in an area in which real time data must berecorded, and a defective region is thus linearly replaced, the linearreplacement of the defective region must be capable of being canceled.Therefore, when the disc defect management mode is set as “1”, this canmean that the linear replacement of the defect can be canceled when realtime information is recorded.

In order to prevent entire linear replacement with respect to the entiredisc or a given group on the disc, information associated with the discdefect management mode is set as “1” upon initialization. On the otherhand, when linear replacement is not performed only in the case ofrecording real time data, there is no need to set the defect managementmode information upon initialization. That is, when it is determinedthat there is a necessity for recording real time data in a disc, thedisc defect management mode is set as “1” just before the real time datais recorded. At this time, a determination of whether a disc is suitablefor recording real time data is made on the basis of the amount ordistribution of a defect generated on the disc. When it is determinedthat the disc is suitable, the disc defect management mode is set as“1”. Otherwise, a process for informing a user that the disc is notsuitable for recording real time data is required.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording data in realtime without performing defect management using linear replacement withrespect to only data desired to be recorded when the disc defectmanagement mode is “1”.

In FIG. 9, first, a determination of whether a disc defect managementmode is “1” is set before recording of data on a disc begins, in stepS101. If the disc defect management mode is “1”, it is determinedwhether data to be recorded is real time data, in step S103. If thedefect management mode is “0”, every data is recorded on the basis of ageneral defect managing method defined in the standard book version 1.0,in steps S102 and S108. When it is determined in step S103 that data tobe recorded is not real time data, step S102 of performing generaldefect management is performed. When it is determined in step S103 thatdata to be recorded is real time data, it is determined whether analready-linearly-replaced defect exists in an area where data is to berecorded, in step S104.

When it is determined in step S104 that the linearly-replaced defectexists in the area to record data in, the linearly-replaced defect iscanceled, in step S105. When no linearly-replaced defect exists in thearea to record data in, it is determined whether a newly-detected defectexists in the area to record data in, in step S106.

When it is determined in step S106 that a new defect is detected,information representing that a defect has not been linearly replaced isrecorded in a secondary defect list (SDL) of a defect management area,in step S107. Next, data is recorded in a desired area in step S108.Also, when a new defect is not detected in step S106, step S108 ofrecording real time data in a desired region is performed.

Step S105 of canceling a linearly-replaced defect, and step S107 ofrecording information representing that a defect has not been linearlyreplaced are performed by recording the first sector number of areplacement block as a hexadecimal “000000”, among linearly-replaceddefect information recorded in the SDL, and by recording the FRMinformation as “1”. In this case, since the disc defect management modeis set as “1”, it can be recognized from the comparison of this modeinformation with FRM information that the meaning of the FRM informationbecomes different from that of existing FRM information.

That is, the FRM information based on the existing standard denotes thata block having a defect generated for a certain reason has not beenreplaced with a block in a spare area or no spare areas can be replaced.On the other hand, FRM information based on a new definition is added tothe meaning of the existing FRM and can be information representing thatwhen the disc defect management mode is “1”, the linear replacement of adefective block replaced by an existing linear replacement method hasbeen canceled for real time recording, or the defective block has notbeen linearly replaced for real time recording.

Since a disc whose defect management mode is set as “1” is likely toinclude real time information, the disc can be utilized as informationof prohibiting reallocation of information on a disc withoutconsideration of real time information. Piece collection of collectingthe pieces of a file on a disc, and read after reallocation can beincluded as a method of reallocating the information on a disc. The readafter allocation is a method of reading data and then replacing a datablock likely to have a defect with a block located in a spare area.

FIG. 10 illustrates the structure of an improved SDL entry for cancelinglinear replacement proposed by the present invention. When analready-replaced defect exists on a disc upon recording of real timedata, a method of recording the information of an area, in which thefirst sector number of the replacement block as described above isrecorded, as a hexadecimal “000000” and setting an FRM bit as “1” isexemplified as a process for canceling the linear replacement.

This method can minimize the change in the existing standard. However,in this method, the information of a block which is determined asdefective and replaced must be deleted, so that linear replacement maybe arbitrarily performed, canceled, and again performed withoutsequentially using a spare area. In particular, when a linearly-replacedblock in the spare area is defective and again replaced, informationassociated with the linearly-replaced defective block in the spare areais lost.

Thus, it would be preferable that blocks in a corresponding spare areaare sequentially used when linear replacement occurs, and that even whenthe linear replacement is canceled, information associated with a blockin the spare area replacing a corresponding defect block is maintained.When only a region recording an FRM bit and the first sector number of areplacement block is used to maintain information associated with thereplaced sector number of the spare area, it is not possible to tell ifthe corresponding replaced block has again been replaced on account of adefect or if the linear replacement has been canceled to record realtime data.

In order to solve such a problem, a canceled linear replacement (CLR)flag is newly defined by using a spare bit of the SDL entry which is notin use. When linear replacement with respect to a corresponding SDLentry is canceled for recording real time data, a method of setting theCLR flag as “1” can be used. Here, when the CLR flag is set as “0”, itindicates a replacement block allocated without being used by real timedata. In the structure of an SDL entry of FIG. 10, for example, a bitb31 not in use is used as the CLR flag.

Meanwhile, defect management information for recording real time datacan be roughly divided into three cases in which: (1) real time data isnot recorded on the entire disc; (2) two types of data, i.e., real timedata and non-real time data, coexist on a disc, and a linear replacementdefect managing method is not used with respect to only the real timedata; and (3) only the real time data is recorded in the entire disc,i.e., the linear replacement defect managing method is not used withrespect to all the recorded data.

Particularly, in the third case, real time replacement is not used forthe entire disc, so that a spare area for defect management can be setto a smaller size than in the first and second cases. This will bedescribed in detail later referring to FIGS. 12 and 13.

When these three or more defect managing methods are applied to onedisc, various correspondences are possible according to the purpose ofuse of a disc, and the disc can be more effectively used. However,considering a condition such as the case of changing and using discsbetween reproduction apparatuses, the defect management conditions inwhich a corresponding disc is used must be described in more detail.1-bit disc defect management mode information representing use ornon-use of linear replacement described in FIGS. 8A and 8B is deficientfor defect management information in the above case.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 11, defect management mode information capable ofrepresenting linear replacement or non-linear replacement depending on aplurality of different defect management modes is stored in a reservedbyte located in the DDS of the defect management area (DMA) on a disc.That is, FIG. 11 shows the case of using two significant bits b7 and b6of the relative byte position BP10 of DDS, i.e., the eleventh bytethereof, by determining a defect management (DM) mode depending on useor non-use of linear replacement as an example.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the DM mode information is “00b”, it indicatesthat the slipping replacement and the linear replacement are applied toall the data recorded in a user data area on a disc, when the DM modeinformation is “01b”, it indicates that the linear replacement isselectively applied according to the type of information (here, realtime data and non-real time data), and when the DM mode information is“10b”, it indicates that the linear replacement is not used with respectto all the data in the user data area.

That is, when the DM mode information is “00b”, the slipping replacementand the linear replacement are mandatory, and this mode is only for dataother than real time data in the first case described above. When the DMmode information is “01b”, the linear replacement is mandatory, but thelinear replacement for real time data is optional. This mode is defectmanagement for a hybrid disc including both real time data and non-realtime data in the second case described above. When the DM modeinformation is “10b”, only the slipping replacement is allowable, andthis mode is defect management for only real data in the third casedescribed above. When the DM mode information is “10b”, the physicallayout of a disc can be changed.

Meanwhile, since linear replacement cannot be used to record real timedata, a spare area necessary for linear replacement does not actuallybecome necessary. For this case, in the present invention, only a sparearea for slipping replacement is set in the last group withoutallocating a spare area for linear replacement as shown in FIG. 12. Inparticular, the spare area set in the last group (here, a thirty fourthgroup) allocates 7680 sectors (480 ECC blocks) to a spare area forslipping replacement to process a maximum of 7679 entries capable ofbeing registered in a primary defect list (PDL). In FIG. 12, “sect”denotes a sector, “blk” denotes block, and “rev” denotes revolutions.

In order to obtain the compatibility between the present invention andan existing defect management structure, a flag, capable ofdiscriminating a case in which spare areas for only slipping replacementare allocated only for real time recording from a case in which spareareas for linear replacement and slipping replacement are allocatedaccording to an existing defect management method, is represented withsignificant bits b7 and b6 of the relative byte position BP 10 in theDDS and the PDL, as shown in FIG. 13.

As shown in FIG. 13, when two significant bits b7 and b6 representing aDM mode on the byte position BP 10 of the DDS/PDL are “00b”, itindicates that an existing defect managing method is applied, and whenthe two significant bits b7 and b6 are “10b”, a defect managing methodfor only real time recording without linear replacement, in which onlythe spare area for slipping replacement is allocated in the last groupof a disc, is applied. Thus, spare areas are allocated by a methoddedicated for real time recording, thereby increasing the efficiency dueto the application of the space of a disc.

As described above, while compatibility between a method of the presentinvention and a defect managing method based on the current DVD-RAMstandard is maintained, linear replacement is not performed when realtime data is recorded. Thus, real time data can be recorded andreproduced.

In the present invention, information representing a plurality ofdifferent defect management modes depending on the type of data to berecorded is stored, so that various correspondences are possibleaccording to the purpose of use of the recording medium. Thus, therecording medium can be more effectively used.

Also, in the present invention, when real time data is recorded, a sparearea for linear replacement is not used for real time data. Also, onlythe real time data is recorded in the entire disc and the spare area isallocated to be used for only slipping replacement. Thus, theeffectiveness due to the application of the space of a disc can beincreased.

1. A defect managing method for a recording medium, comprising:recording and/or reproducing information indicating whether a particularone of the defective units of the recording medium is to be replaced orleft unreplaced by a designated replacement unit; determining whether adefective unit, of the plurality of defective units, is to be replacedor left unreplaced according to the information representing replacementor non-replacement of the defective unit.
 2. The defect managing methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the information representing replacementor non-replacement indicates a plurality of defect management modes andis recorded in a reserved area of a disc definition structure (DDS) ofthe recording medium.
 3. The defect managing method as claimed in claim1, wherein the recorded information further includes a start sectornumber of the defective block and a start sector number of a replacementunit in a secondary defect list (SDL) of the recording medium.
 4. Thedefect managing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recording ofthe information further comprises leaving only a start sector number ofthe defective unit in a secondary defect list (SDL) of the recordingmedium, storing information representing that the defective unit has notbeen replaced in a Forced Re-Assignment Marking (FRM) bit of the SDLindicating whether the defective unit has been replaced, and storinginformation representing that the defective unit has not been replacedin a start sector number of a corresponding replacement unit in the SDL.5. The defect managing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein theinformation representing replacement and/or non-replacement of thedefective unit includes positions of the defective unit and acorresponding replacement block.